Ready to Love Again
by sparkybitterness
Summary: Hermione has to be somewhere. Charlie follows her to the places she visits. Soemthing happens at one place. Please R&R.


A/N: I thought about this a lot. It wouldn't get out of my head. Hope you enjoy!

Info- This is set roughly 6 years after Deathly Hollows.

Disclaimer: Do I look like J.K. Rowling? I'm flattered if you think so.

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"Oh, Harry, dear, just think. You'll finally be a member of the extended Weasley family." Mrs. Weasley beamed over Harry. Harry and Ginny had announced their engagement after dinner. Now, everyone had moved in to the living room of the Burrow. Bill, hoisting Rosie up on his shoulders, shook hands with Harry and hugged Ginny. 

"Sorry, guys. I promised the missus that I'd be back with Rosie before 10." Bill shook his head apologetically, but they all knew he wanted to get back to his pregnant wife.

"Quite alright. See you tomorrow at work." Harry beamed at him.

Hermione Granger, now 24, sat looking at her friends. A sad smile crossed her face before it took her mandatory grin. She was truly happy for Harry. Ron, too. He and Lavender had recently gotten married. She was the only one of the Golden Trio without someone else. That didn't bother her too much, only when it came to "family" gatherings with the Weasleys/whomever else married into the family. Silently, she looked down at her watch.

It was almost 11 and she still had two other places to go. They were the last stops and the last places she wanted to be. Still, she knew she couldn't ignore the fact any longer; she had to go. Since she was staying at the Burrow that night, so she couldn't come up with a logical reason not to stay and celebrate. She knew they'd understand if she told the truth, but Hermione felt weak admitting it. Hermione Granger was not the type of person to feel weak.

She looked around and figured no one would miss her. Harry was being preoccupied with Mrs. Weasley, Ron, George, and Ginny. Slowly, she slid out of her seat and left the room. Only one person knew she had gone.

Charlie Weasley watched as Hermione slipped past relatives and out into the warm spring night. Wondering where she was going, he stealthy got up and followed her. Outside, the air was heavy, even for being night. He watched as she apparated with a sharp crack. Once making she was gone, he apparated to wherever she was.

Arriving, he saw the destination was St. Mungo's. Watching her walk in, he figured he better go. Charlie wondered why he cared so much for his little brother's best friend. _Idiot, of course you care; you want to be more than friends _–one half of him screamed that. The more reasonable half-_Charlie, it's your obligatory duty to Ron to protect her. _

Walking in, he was surprised to see that a sign said, "After hours visiting-check in with nurse at front desk." He went to the front desk.

"May I help you?" A kind looking motherly woman asked him.

"Sure. Um, can you tell me which way a Miss Granger went?"

"Oh, you mean Hermione? She's such a dear, looking after Mr. Granger like that. She takes such good care of him, even if he doesn't say much." The woman shook her head. "Are you here to see him, too?"

"Um, yeah." Charlie suddenly remembered that Death Eaters had attacked Hermione's parents. That had been before Voldemort's fall. He never really did find out what had happened to them.

"Good. Right down the hall to your left." She smiled at him and went back to paperwork. He nodded briefly and went to his left. By the half-shut door, he heard Hermione talking.

"Dad, I know I haven't been here in a while, and I'm sorry. I've had so much to do. My job at the ministry is going good. I'm expecting a promotion soon. Everyone thinks I'm going to be the first Female Minister of Magic. I wouldn't want the job anyway."

Charlie felt his heart almost break when she paused, almost as if expecting a reply. She went back to random chatter after that short, horrible pause. Why had that pause effected him-Charlie Weasley, tamer of dragons and fearless person-so much? After a few minutes, he could tell her dad wasn't going to respond. He peeked in and hated what he saw.

Hermione was sitting on a chair, her back to him. Her father lay in a bed, not moving. Occasionally, his hand would twitch, and Hermione would glance at the monitor, tracking his heart rate.

After about 30 minutes, Charlie couldn't take it. He walked to the front desk again."Heartbreaking, ain't it? Listening to her talk to him."

Charlie nodded and walked the other way. Once outside, he felt better. St. Mungo's sign flashed and he looked the other way. How could Hermione stand to be there? It was so depressing, especially when her father was in there. Vaguely, he was reminded of when his dad was in there.

Around midnight, she came out. He was waiting for her on a bench, but got up as she approached. She didn't notice him, but he saw that she had tears on her cheeks. She kept walking until shops and traces of Muggles disappeared. Then, she apparated again. Not being able to handle much more heartbreak, he sighed and apparated after her.

This time, they were in a graveyard. Her brown hair, smoothed out somewhat now, ruffled slightly. His unreasonable half, thinking, _oh; damn, she looks so good. I wish I could… _His reasonable half took over again. He followed her closely as she weaved in and out of tombstones. When she reached a marble gray one, she stopped. In the faint moonlight, he gazed while she sat down next to it. Her fingers traced the letters engraved on it.

"Mum, I came to tell you happy birthday. Hard to believe it's been close to six years, isn't it? I talked to dad before coming. He's not getting much better; I think he misses you too much to care. I miss you to, Mum." Fresh tears flowed freely, instead of a controlled mask.

"Harry got engaged today, with Ginny. Ronald and Lavender are married. I think he'll be the next to have a child and I can become and 'auntie' again." She leaned against the tombstone. Charlie hid behind one close to it. "I'm still the only one not happily with a significant other. It doesn't bother me so much, Mum. I hate when we have family gatherings, though. I think I'll live through it, just for you."

She reached into a bag. "I brought you something." She pulled out a book and crumpled lilies. "Remember this book? You brought it home to me after a dentist convention. We stayed up almost the whole night reading it." Hermione set the lilies down on the grave.

"I figured you might like some of these. In summer, we always picked them. Kind of hard to believe you're really gone." Tears poured out and her voice threatened to give out on her. Charlie held his breath as Hermione crumpled up against the tombstone, sobbing. She hadn't done anything to deserve what those Death Eaters did to her parents.

He couldn't take much more of this. Standing up, he crept to her side and held her. She looked up, startled, but gradually eased into his arms. "It's okay, Hermione."

After a while, her sobbing stopped and she shook. Finally, she looked him in the eyes. Her soft brown eyes captivated him and made his heart skip a beat. "Today was her birthday. She would have been 45. Gods, I miss her." She wiped her cheek off. "Will the pain ever stop? Does it just stay there, to remind you that you shouldn't laugh this much or love so deeply?"

"I can't answer that. I still think of Fred and Percy. I think they wouldn't want me to dwell on what happened. They'd want me to remember the good stuff about them. They'd want me to laugh and love, even if I can't bring myself to." Charlie held her closer.

"I'd like to think of the happy stuff. I want to laugh and love again." The tears had stopped. She smiled faintly.

"There. We can try to do this together." He was shocked to find that his reasonable half-the half he's always thought of himself as-sounded like Percy's voice. The unreasonable half was Fred. He closed his eyes, still holding Hermione. _Charlie, we're leaving now. Good luck mate. _He heard Fred laugh once more. _Charlie, I think it's okay to love Hermione. You can help each other heal. _Percy's voice echoed through his thoughts.

"Hermione." He stood up, and helped her up. "I'm ready to love and laugh again."

"Me too." She smiled, a real smile that warmed his heart. Then, he saw his opportunity. He jumped in and didn't look back. In front of her mother's grave, he kissed her before she could protest. Pulling away, he grabbed her hand.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Maybe." She looked at the gravestone. "Until next time, Mum." She stayed holding onto Charlie's hand for support. "I'm ready." After a brief last glance at the stone, they apparated back to the Burrow, right outside the door. It was long past midnight. All the lights were shut off and the door was locked.

Charlie reached for his wand to unlock it, but Hermione placed a hand on his arm.

He looked at her questioningly. "Charlie, before we go in, can I ask you something? Well, two somethings."

"Yeah, sure. I'll try to answer them."

Hermione took a deep breath. "Can you not tell anyone about tonight? I mean…"

Charlie cut her off. "I understand. I won't tell anyone, I promise. What was the other thing?"

"I was just wondering…why did you kiss me in the graveyard?" The last part came in a slight rush.

"I've had these feelings, Hermione. One half wants me to act on them and the other half tells me to leave you alone." He hung his head, looking ashamed almost. "I can't fight them anymore. I need you, Hermione. When I said I was ready to love again, I wanted it to be you that I loved." He looked up into those soft eyes again. They were filled with an optimism he hadn't seen before.

"I want to be the one you want to love. I want you to be the one I loved, too." She flung her arms around him and he held her.

"Are you ready to go in?" Charlie asked, holding his wand.

She bit her lip. "Yeah. It's just, how do we tell the others this came to be?"

"I saw you in a time of need, it was natural." Charlie laughed. "We Weasley's always have been after damsels in distress."

"Charlie." In spite of herself, she smiled. He grinned in response and unlocked the door. Yes, they were definitely ready to love again.

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Reviews are apprechiated. 


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